Mobile Trends 2018

531 Comments

1. March 24, 2018 at 9:05 pm

   Tomi Engdahl says:

   Katie Couric on smartphone addiction, ‘freaky’ sex robots
   https://techcrunch.com/2018/03/13/katie-couric-on-smartphone-addiction-freaky-sex-robots/?utm_source=tcfbpage&sr_share=facebook

   Katie Couric has some concerns about the way people are using technology. It’s “making us less reliant on true human connection,” the legendary news anchor told TechCrunch during the “South by Southwest” festival

   For the project, for example, she explored smartphone addiction and “learned about how much anxiety it produces.” She also realized the extent to which “we don’t even know what’s happening to our brains” after diving into the issue with researchers.

   She further told us of her frustration by the “companies that exploit this attention economy,” referencing some common gripes about Twitter and Facebook

   Reply
2. March 26, 2018 at 9:38 am

   Tomi Engdahl says:

   Can Huawei Match Apple TrueDepth?
   https://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1333098

   Now that Samsung’s Galaxy S9 is already on the market and Huawei’s P20 announcement is looming large (the Chinese mobile giant will hold a press conference here next Tuesday), imaging experts have declared 3D sensing the new battleground for the mobile industry.

   However, far from clear is whether either Samsung or Huawei will be able to catch up with Apple’s iPhone X.

   Because the bar set by Apple’s TrueDepth camera is so high, Pierre Cambou, activity leader for MEMS and imaging at Yole Développement, predicts that it may take a year or longer for competitors to offer 3D sensing technologies comparable to iPhone X.

   Unlike the megapixel race of olden days, 3D sensing will be a tougher challenge for most smartphone vendors — because a 3D camera contains myriad components that need to be aligned. It also requires competent supply chain management. Cambou called the 3D camera “a bundle of sub-devices.”

   A CNET story earlier this month said: “An in-depth look at Samsung’s new biometrics verification system — and how it stacks up against the iPhone X’s Face ID — shows it’s not quite safe enough for mobile payments.”

   This is because “Samsung’s facial recognition system uses a regular camera to create a 2D map of your face, contrasted with Apple’s Face ID, which creates a complex 3D scan of your facial pattern.” People were able to fool Samsung’s technology on last year’s Galaxy S8 by using photos. Apparently, that trick still works with the S9.

   Why triple cameras?
   Are three cameras better than two?

   “Triple cameras are a brand-new territory that’s just about to begin and yet to prove its value.”

   Noting that triple cameras could come in many forms and configurations, he said they could serve different goals. These include “low light performance, zoom, depth, higher resolution, and image quality as a whole,” he explained.

   According to Briman, triple-camera combinations could include a) a color (RGB) camera, a monochrome camera, and a third camera providing either ultra-wide field of view (FoV) or a 2x telephoto narrow FoV; b) a fisheye (ultra-wide-angle) camera, a standard wide camera and a 2x telephoto camera; or c) a standard wide-angle, a 2x telephoto and a 5x telephoto to enable super-zoom capability. He noted, “Other configurations are also possible, including various image sensors,” Briman said.

   But here’s the thing. “All of these triple cameras can provide more accurate depth information compared to dual camera designs,” said Briman.

   Reply
3. March 26, 2018 at 9:38 am

   Tomi Engdahl says:

   Teardown Finds Big Increase in Galaxy S9+ BoM
   https://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1333116

   Samsung Electronics’ Galaxy S9+ smartphone carriers an estimated bill of materials (BoM) cost about 13 percent above that of its predecessor, the Galaxy S8+, thanks to increased costs for DRAM and NAND flash memory and the smartphone’s upgraded dual-lense mechanical aperture camera module, according to to a teardown analysis performed by IHSMarkit.

   The BoM cost of the Galaxy S9+ is about $375.80, about $43 more than the Galaxy S8+, according to IHS Markit. An unlocked, 64GB version of the Galaxy S9+ retails for $839.99 on Samsung’s website.

   “Despite the higher cost structure for Samsung, the Galaxy S9+ offers consumers better specs at about the same price point as the Galaxy S8+, including a brighter screen and advanced camera technology,”

   Reply
4. March 27, 2018 at 7:54 pm

   Tomi Engdahl says:

   Vlad Savov / The Verge:
   Huawei launches P20 Pro with 6.1-inch Full HD+ OLED screen, Kirin 970 processor, 40MP triple-camera system, 4,000mAh battery, Face Unlock, and 6GB RAM — And a home button, too — The Huawei P20 Pro is now official, taking up its place as the company’s new flagship and this year’s most exciting new phone.

   Huawei’s P20 Pro has a unique triple camera and a predictable notch
   And a home button, too
   https://www.theverge.com/2018/3/27/17165822/huawei-p20-pro-specs-price-release-date

   The Huawei P20 Pro is now official, taking up its place as the company’s new flagship and this year’s most exciting new phone. Unlike Samsung’s iterative Galaxy S9 update, Huawei’s P20 device family — which includes the regular P20 and a P20 Lite — is full of design and camera novelties that feel fresh and different from the rest of the market. Well, the new phones have notches, too, but those can be disguised if you really hate the look.

   But let’s talk about that epic new camera system. First of all, Huawei has added a third lens to the back of the P20 Pro, which provides an 8-megapixel, optically stabilized telephoto camera. This allows for 3x optical zoom or a 5x hybrid zoom. Huawei’s traditional setup of combining the data from a monochrome and a color sensor is still in place, but this time, the color sensor weighs in at a whopping 40 megapixels. You’ll have the option to use that entire resolution to take photos, though the default setting will be to combine the data from four adjacent pixels into one and thus generate clearer, brighter 10-megapixel shots. We’ve seen this technique, which Huawei calls Light Fusion, in the past on devices like the Nokia Lumia 1020 and its “super pixels.” One of these quad-pixel pixels inside the P20 Pro measures in at 2µm, which is huge for a smartphone sensor. Google’s Pixel 2, for comparison, has 1.4µm pixels, while the regular P20, which has a 12-megapixel main sensor, comes with 1.55µm pixels.

   There’s a laundry list of P20 camera options and assistive features designed “to bridge the skills gap” between photography amateurs and pros. One that capitalizes on AIS is a promised 5-second-long exposure mode that can be used without a tripod. Handheld exposures of such length usually end up a blurry mess, so Huawei is making a bold promise here. The autofocus system is a combination of a laser, face detection, depth information, and contrast. And there’s a so-called 4D predictive focus for ensuring randomly moving objects — such as a flower being jostled by the wind — remain in focus.

   Huawei’s AI object recognition has grown in awareness to now not only recognize food, but to know what sort of food it is that you’re trying to photograph. The company’s worked with food photographers from around the world, and now when it detects a particular style of cuisine, it will apply the image processing tweaks it believes are best suited to it.

   Up front, Huawei has a 24-megapixel selfie cam that also uses Light Fusion. The front-facing camera is housed in the notch at the top of the phone’s display — which is a 6.1-inch Full HD+ OLED panel on the P20 and a smaller 5.8-inch LCD on the P20 — next to a cute circular earpiece. Unlike Apple’s iPhone X, Huawei’s notch doesn’t house a complex Face ID system, but the P20 is the first P-series phone from the company to come with Face Unlock, which just uses the camera.

   Reply
5. March 28, 2018 at 5:50 am

   Tomi Engdahl says:

   Java-aaaargh! Google faces $9bn copyright bill after Oracle scores ‘fair use’ court appeal win
   https://www.theregister.co.uk/2018/03/27/oracle_apple_copyright_reversal/

   You thought this was over? You thought wrong, laughs Larry

   The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington DC has revived Oracle’s bid to bill Google for billions over its use of copyrighted Java APIs in its Android mobile operating system.

   On Tuesday, the appeals court reversed a 2016 jury finding of fair use that deemed Google’s actions acceptable, and sent the case back to federal court in California to determine damages, which Oracle in 2016 said should amount to about $8.8bn.

   A key consideration in whether the use of copyrighted material qualifies for the fair use defense is whether the use is transformative. The appeals court decided that Google’s use of the Java APIs was not transformative.

   Reply
6. March 28, 2018 at 5:51 am

   Tomi Engdahl says:

   Huawei P20 debuts with notched screen, P20 Pro adds Leica Triple Camera
   https://m.gsmarena.com/huawei_p20_and_p20_pro_go_official_leica_triple_camera_reserved_for_pro-news-30274.php

   Today Huawei P20 and Huawei P20 Pro premiered at a special event in Paris, France. The new flagship duo notched screens, stereo speakers and various camera improvements including the new Leica Triple Camera.

   Reply
7. March 28, 2018 at 5:56 am

   Tomi Engdahl says:

   The Huawei P20 is not coming to the U.S.
   https://techcrunch.com/2018/03/27/the-huawei-p20-is-not-coming-to-the-u-s/?utm_source=tcfbpage&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Techcrunch+%28TechCrunch%29&sr_share=facebook

   Meet the Huawei P20. It’s a pretty nice phone. I played around with it, and I can confirm that it is, indeed, a solid flagship with some suitably over-the-top features — what’s that you say? Three rear-facing cameras?! But all of this is kind of a moot point if you live here in the States.

   Sure, Huawei’s been having a lot of issues trying to sell its phones in America. In fact, just as I was playing around with the P20, news was breaking that Best Buy was planning to stop selling the company’s phones

   Reply
8. March 28, 2018 at 9:39 am

   Tomi Engdahl says:

   Susan Decker / Bloomberg:
   A US appeals court revives Oracle’s billion-dollar copyright claim against Google, saying Google’s use of Java wasn’t “fair use” — Google could owe Oracle Corp. billions of dollars after an appeals court said it didn’t have the right to use the Oracle-owned Java programming code …

   Google Could Owe Oracle $8.8 Billion in Android Fight
   https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-03-27/oracle-wins-revival-of-billion-dollar-case-against-google

   Google could owe Oracle Corp. billions of dollars for using Oracle-owned Java programming code in its Android operating system on mobile devices, an appeals court said, as the years-long feud between the two software giants draws near a close.

   Mike Masnick / Techdirt:
   Insanity Wins As Appeals Court Overturns Google’s Fair Use Victory For Java APIs
   https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20180327/10431439512/insanity-wins-as-appeals-court-overturns-googles-fair-use-victory-java-apis.shtml

   Oh, CAFC. The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has spent decades fucking up patent law, and now they’re doing their damndest to fuck up copyright law as well. In case you’d forgotten, the big case between Oracle and Google over whether or not Google infringed on Oracle’s copyrights is still going on — and it appears it will still be going on for quite a while longer, as CAFC this morning came down with a laughably stupid opinion, overturning the district court’s jury verdict, which had said that Google’s use of a few parts of Java’s API was protected by fair use. That jury verdict was kind of silly in the first place, because the whole trial (the second one in the case) made little sense, as basically everyone outside of Oracle and the CAFC had previously understood (correctly) that APIs are simply not covered by copyright.

   Section 102(b) of the Copyright Act says quite clearly:

   In no case does copyright protection for an original work of authorship extend to any idea, procedure, process, system, method of operation, concept, principle, or discovery, regardless of the form in which it is described, explained, illustrated, or embodied in such work.

   Reply
9. March 28, 2018 at 10:54 am

   Tomi Engdahl says:

   The Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+ Review: Exynos and Snapdragon at 960fps
   by Andrei Frumusanu on March 26, 2018 10:00 AM EST
   https://www.anandtech.com/show/12520/the-galaxy-s9-review/12

   Reply
10. March 29, 2018 at 9:18 am

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    Triple Cameras: Are Three Better Than Two?
    https://www.eetimes.com/author.asp?section_id=36&doc_id=1333134

    While dual camera smartphones are becoming commoditized, the first few triple camera harbingers are on the horizon, starting with Huawei’s P20 Pro just launched this week. Challenges and rewards are explained, several configurations are analyzed.

    In the past two years we have witnessed mass market adoption of dual camera technologies in most smartphone segments, across almost all manufacturers. We have seen dual cameras adopted both front and back, in various configurations for various end goals. Recent market reports indicate that 30% of smartphones in 2018 will use dual camera technologies, growing to 50% next year. Even though it took the smartphone market more than ten years to add a second camera, it seems that the addition of a third camera is just around the corner, within two years from the adoption of the second camera.

    In this article, we will discuss some motivations for adding a third camera to the smartphone imaging complex, the challenges it brings and some possible solutions.

    The Road to Dual Cameras
    The thickness of smartphone cameras has always been a challenge for mobile photography. The aperture size is tiny, the pixel size gets smaller and smaller as technology advances, and auto-focus and image stabilization are still required to fit in. Until recently, smartphone OEMs were scrambling to achieve decent low-light performance, high resolution, and low SNR, even while zooming in, at a 6mm camera height.

    Dual camera technologies came to the rescue and challenged the camera module manufactures and smartphone OEMs with the following approach: If a single camera reached its full potential, why not synthesize the outputs of two cameras, so that each one can contribute its particular advantage?

    The early days of dual camera smartphones started with the launch of the HTC One (M8), the first smartphone to utilize two rear cameras, with the sole purpose of enabling depth and focus effects on the resulting image.

    This first phase of dual cameras continued until mid-2016, while various OEMs were testing dual camera technologies in some of their flagship smartphones, using different dual camera setups, including depth-only, RGB-Mono and Wide-and-Wider duos. There was still no “killer camera app” identified, nor a winning dual camera configuration.

    In September 2016, Apple introduced the iPhone 7 Plus using a rear dual camera. Apple managed to shine the spotlight on a specific dual camera configuration, Wide+Tele, as the premium camera setup, and highlighted two photography features as the most-wanted by consumers: optical zoom and digital bokeh (or “portrait mode”).

    And Then There Were Three
    Although dual camera smartphones have become a commodity in the high-end market segment, there are still new dual camera topologies that will make their debut in the very near future, in order to further enhance today’s dual camera performance.

    Three main challenges
    Next, we will review three main challenges that such triple camera systems bring about.

    Challenge 1: “Real-estate” & Cost
    Challenge 2: Calibration
    Challenge 3: Firmware, Algorithms, Power

    As a result of these complexities, power consumption for the overall system (cameras + processing platform) of this configuration could be greatly affected.

    Camera order has an impact on system performance. For example, placing the wide color camera in the middle allows smoother transition from the wide to tele cameras during video recording as well as simplifies the fusion process between two neighboring cameras (color and mono). This arrangement will come at the expense of stereo depth sensing accuracy that could be improved by placing the wide color camera and the wide mono camera at opposite ends.

    Law of Diminishing Returns
    In this article we reviewed three key challenges for triple cameras, and three specific configurations that represent a wide variety of triple camera setups, which might soon be adopted by OEMs.

    In general, the law of diminishing returns aptly applies to multi-aperture technologies. The second camera in dual setups offers the greatest returns in terms of added user experience, while the third camera in any triple setup would need to provide significant added value to the overall user experience in order to justify its additional cost, size and complexity. Triple camera configurations that adequately resolve low-light performance limitations (both capture and video modes) as well as proper optical zoom capabilities (beyond 3x) would make most sense to OEMs in the near future.

    Reply
11. March 29, 2018 at 11:09 am

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    Internet of insecure Things: Software still riddled with security holes
    Which means devices could be pwned by crooks
    https://www.theregister.co.uk/2018/03/28/iot_software_still_insecure/

    An audit of the security of IoT mobile applications available on official stores has found that tech to safeguard the world of connected things remains outstandingly mediocre.

    Pradeo Security put a representative sample of 100 iOS and Android applications developed to manage connected objects (heaters, lights, door-locks, baby monitors, CCTV etc) through their paces.

    Researchers at the mobile security firm found that around one in seven (15 per cent) applications sourced from the Google Play and Apple App Store were vulnerable to takeover. Hijacking was a risk because these apps were discovered to be defenceless against bugs that might lend themselves to man-in-the-middle attacks.

    Four in five of the tested applications carry vulnerabilities, with an average of 15 per application.

    Around one in 12 (8 per cent) of applications phoned home or otherwise connected to uncertified servers. “Among these, some [certificates] have expired and are available for sale. Anyone buying them could access all the data they receive,” Pradeo warns.

    Failings in this area were many and varied.

    Application file content: 81 per cent of applications
    Hardware information (device manufacturer, commercial name, battery status…): 73 per cent
    Device information (OS version number…): 73 per cent
    Temporary files: 38 per cent
    Phone network information (service provider, country code…): 27 per cent
    Video and audio records: 19 per cent
    Files coming from app static data: 19 per cent
    Geolocation: 12 per cent
    Network information (IP address, 2D address, Wi-Fi connection state): 12 per cent
    Device identifiers (IMEI): 8 per cent

    Reply
12. March 29, 2018 at 11:17 am

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    Google users in Europe now have 14-day refund window for services purchased through Play Store
    https://www.androidpolice.com/2018/03/28/google-users-europe-now-14-day-refund-window-services-purchased-play-store/

    With as many apps as there are in existence, when you download enough you’re bound to run into a stinker or two (or three, or four). And understandably, when an app just doesn’t live up to your expectations, you’re going to want a refund. While you can get a refund for things bought through the Google Play Store, how that process works wasn’t exactly super intuitive all along, and over the years we slowly saw Google formalize its refund policies. Today we’re witnessing the latest change, as Google reforms those policies for users living in the European Economic Area.

    The way things were in the past for EEA users, and they way they still are for the rest of us, there’s a 48-hour window on Play Store refunds. Up until that time has elapsed, if you’re unhappy with your app purchase you can contact Google with your refund request, and it will handle get your money back to you. Take any longer than that and you’ll have to bring your refund up with the app developers themselves — and that’s a roll of the dice, as they might not feel inclined to give you a refund at all. The same rules apply to subscriptions and services, like those that might be available as in-app purchases.

    But for Play Store users living in the European Economic Area, that starts changes today. First, you’ve got a two-hour window for app returns that Google’s going to approve as a gesture of goodwill — just like we’ve seen in the past. But after two hours, things start getting a little tricky.

    Under EU rules, there’s a 14-day “cooling off period” that gives consumers the right to get a refund for many online purchases. But there do exist exceptions, and among those is software, both of the shrink-wrapped and downloaded variety. Basically, once you’ve received it and “opened” it, it’s yours for keeps, a situation Google acknowledges in its refund policies — that two-hour grace period notwithstanding.

    Those same rules apply to content subscriptions, but critically, not to services.

    https://support.google.com/googleplay/answer/7659581

    Reply
13. March 29, 2018 at 11:18 am

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    Intel’s Last Atom in Smartphones: A 2018 Benchmark
    by Ian Cutress on March 28, 2018 1:00 PM EST
    https://www.anandtech.com/show/12592/intels-last-atom-in-smartphones-a-2018-benchmark

    Intel’s push into smartphones over the last 10 years has been well documented, as well as the subsequent downfall after its Broxton smartphone SoCs were cancelled in April 2016. This was not the ‘end’ for Atom in smartphones: an agreement between Intel and Spreadtrum, a low-end SoC vendor based in Asia, kept Intel SoCs going into smartphones for the low-cost market. These chips contained Intel Atom x86 cores, graphics, Spreadtrum modems, and were built in Intel’s fabs.

    The two chips to come out of the agreement so far were the SC9861G-IA in 2017, followed by the SC9853i at the end of last year. These chips have most found themselves in Senwa phones, specifically the LS9718 and LS9918 that were launched at Mobile World Congress this year, and are in devices primarily marketed to Latin America and Africa.

    The Spreadtrum SC9853i, the latest SoC to come out of the agreement, is actually the lower end unit. It uses eight Intel Airmont cores at 1.8 GHz, a dual core Arm Mali-T820 GPU (down from PowerVR), a 1080p video engine (down from 4K), and a maximum supported camera resolution of 16MP. The modem inside is suitable for up to 4G Cat 7 / 300 Mbps download.

    Reply
14. March 29, 2018 at 11:21 am

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    Happy as Larry: Why Oracle won the Google Java Android case
    Get a licence or build something new. It’s really that simple
    https://www.theregister.co.uk/2018/03/29/oracle_google_android/

    One piece of paper. Just one lousy piece of paper. That’s the difference between success and a potential $8.8bn payout.

    Google’s lucky streak finally ran out this week. Its defense for using Oracle’s copyrighted Java code in Android – without paying the database giant a penny in royalties – collapsed in a US Federal appeals court, just as I predicted it would in 2016. Why was I so confident back then that Oracle would prevail?

    Copyright can be incredibly detailed and complicated, nightmarishly so when there are overlapping bundles of rights, as in music. But the principles of intellectual property are always straightforward, and this is what judges must ultimately consider. And this was a very straightforward case. Google didn’t have that one vital bit of paper.

    Google had copied Sun Microsystems’ Java – it took the technology then built useful new bits on it for Android – without a license. Internally, Google’s Android team knew they should get a license and said so, but Sun, which at the time was in its Kumbaya era under its ponytailed CEO Jonathan Schwartz, hadn’t got round to getting Google’s signature on the paperwork.

    Specifically, the alarm was raised far and wide that an Oracle win would set back fair use, or lead to the copyrighting of software-to-software interfaces (otherwise known as APIs).

    Once again, it’s helpful to turn to the law.

    So Oracle was on firm ground, as Java ticked the boxes required: it was, to use the technical terms, an original work of authorship fixed in a tangible medium of expression.

    Fair use has an unusual and far more significant role in US copyright law than it does in any other legal system, and Google would like to see it written into global law, but that’s a story for another day. As the Federal Court notes in its judgement, Google had a high hurdle to cross: “Because fair use is an affirmative defense to a claim of infringement, Google bears the burden to prove that the statutory factors weigh in its favor.”

    Fair use has hurdles

    Here’s why Google failed. The burden was now on Google to show that constructing Android from Java was fair use. Google had to address four factors.

    Was the new work a transformation of previous material, or copied verbatim? What was the nature of the work – was it factual or fictional, or based on unpublished material? Was the amount copied reasonable or substantial? And did it affect the market value of the original?

    Make your own damn operating system

    Google clearly had the choice of making a cool new OS, or getting a Java license and building on that. The ads giant is, right now, working on a cool new OS called Fuchsia that’s hopefully lawyer-proof, and we can expect to hear a lot more about it.

    To sum up, then: Google knew it needed a licence, didn’t get one, and tried to bluff it out.

    Reply
15. March 31, 2018 at 6:38 am

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    Two Studies Find ‘Clear Evidence’ That Cellphone Radiation Causes Cancer In Rats
    https://science.slashdot.org/story/18/03/31/0124212/two-studies-find-clear-evidence-that-cellphone-radiation-causes-cancer-in-rats?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Slashdot%2Fslashdot%2Fto+%28%28Title%29Slashdot+%28rdf%29%29

    [A] pair of studies by the U.S. National Toxicology Program found “clear evidence” that exposure to radiation caused heart tumors in male rats, and found “some evidence” that it caused tumors in the brains of male rats. (Both are positive results; the NTP uses the labels “clear evidence,” “some evidence,” “equivocal evidence” and “no evidence” when making conclusions.)

    We now have the first clear evidence cell phone radiation can cause cancer in rats
    https://qz.com/1241867/cell-phone-radiation-can-cause-cancer-in-rats-according-to-the-final-results-of-a-us-government-study/

    This week, following three days of live-broadcast peer review sessions, experts concluded that a pair of federal studies show “clear evidence” that cell phone radiation caused heart cancer in male rats.

    This substantially changes the debate on whether cell phone use is a cancer risk. Up until this point, the federal government and cell phone manufacturers operated on the assumption that cell phones cannot by their very nature cause cancer, because they emit non-ionizing radiation. Whereas ionizing radiation—the kind associated with x-rays, CT scans, and nuclear power plants, among others—definitely causes cancer at high enough doses, non-ionizing radiation was believed to not emit enough energy to break chemical bonds. That meant it couldn’t damage DNA, and therefore couldn’t lead to mutations that cause cancer.

    Reply
16. April 4, 2018 at 8:51 am

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    Outgoing Windows chief blames Windows Phone’s failure on Windows CE
    https://mspoweruser.com/outgoing-windows-chief-blames-windows-phones-failure-on-windows-ce/

    Much has been written about the failure of Windows Phone, but we often hear a version closer to the truth when staff leave Microsoft than while they are still in the employment of the Seattle software giant.

    One of the biggest departures in recent years from the Windows software team has been Terry Myserson, who has been head of Windows and Windows Phone variously since 2008.

    Somewhat self-congratulatory, Myerson goes on to suggest that Microsoft deserves credit for at least trying and failing, vs not attempting all.

    Having been there in the day, I am not sure why Myerson called out the Windows CE kernel in particular as “hobbling” Windows Phone. The kernel was only present in Windows Phone 7 and 7.5, as Windows Phone 8 ran on the Windows NT kernel. I suspect the business model issue, where Microsoft charged OEMs a software license while Android was free, was a much bigger issue and one which would have been incredibly easy to fix, so certainly one which the leadership should take responsibility for.

    Of course, Myerson will know better than us exactly what prevented Windows Phone from being more competitive

    Reply
17. April 4, 2018 at 11:19 am

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    Good luck cell phone – 45 years became full

    This day, for example, could be announced by the UN as the world’s mobile day. At exactly 45 years ago, Martin Cooper, Motorola’s R & D Director, made the first mobile call.

    On April 3, 1973, the Sixth Avenue debut was one kind of launch for the revolution in mobile communications.

    Cooper called his call with Motorola’s prototype of a mobile phone. The clown weighed over a pound. The talk time was half an hour and the charging lasted ten hours.

    Motorola received its first commercial mobile phone on the DynaTAC market only a decade later, in 1983.

    Source: https://www.tivi.fi/Kaikki_uutiset/onnea-kannykka-45-vuotta-tuli-tayteen-6716809

    Reply
18. April 4, 2018 at 3:46 pm

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    The phone charger may be a fire hazard – do not leave it alone

    Charging a smartphone next to the bed overnight is not necessarily very smart.

    If it is required to be charged at night, it is safer to load it further away from the bed or outside the bedroom, leaving time to react in the event of a fire. The fire near the head of a sleeping person can be fatal.

    According to insurance company If, the most clearly growing home fire risk at present is different rechargeable devices. About six out of ten fire in the home are lit by some electrical appliance.

    “Typically, the device is left charged when the house has been empty and the fire has ignited in the absence of residents,”

    Most troublesome items may be products ordered from the online store, the exact origin of which is unknown.

    In the electrical equipment tested by Tukes, most of the faults were in LED lighting products and in power supplies / chargers.

    The number of rechargeable devices is increasing all the time. According to some estimates, the number of batteries will quadruple over the next few years.

    Source: https://www.tivi.fi/Kaikki_uutiset/puhelimen-laturi-voi-olla-paloriski-ala-jata-lataamaan-yksin-6717653

    Reply
19. April 5, 2018 at 1:06 pm

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    Smartphone manufacturers are running a real racing game on cameras. The two-cell solution is no longer a selling argument when Huawei has already introduced a three-celled P20 model. Samsung has, in turn, patented a solution to the introduction of a fishfinder lens among cameras.

    A widescreen image may well be the next tough thing in smartphone cameras. The Sony Xperia XA2 already has a 120-degree widescreen lens, but the Samsung application, found by Letsgodigital, describes a 150-degree wide-screen lens.

    The patent application filed last June by WIPO describes a complicated phone camera structure with a lenses of 150 degrees. All in all, the design has six separate lenses.

    Source: http://www.etn.fi/index.php/13-news/7808-samsung-patentoi-kalansilmalinssin-alypuhelimeen

    More:
    Samsung smartphone camera met 150° fisheye lens
    https://nl.letsgodigital.org/smartphones/samsung-galaxy-smartphone-camera/

    Reply
20. April 6, 2018 at 1:36 pm

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    Mariella Moon / Engadget:
    Snapchat releases iPhone X-exclusive AR Lenses that look more realistic thanks to the TrueDepth camera technology — Snapchat has discovered a way to leverage the power of iPhone X’s TrueDepth camera — and that means you’ll have access to exclusive Lenses if you use Apple’s all-screen mobile device.
    https://www.engadget.com/2018/04/06/snapchat-iphone-x-exclusive-lenses/

    Reply
21. April 6, 2018 at 1:37 pm

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    Adi Robertson / The Verge:
    Facebook debuts AR-based Target Tracking, letting users launch AR experiences by pointing their phone at an image or QR code, available in beta — Facebook is adding a new augmented reality feature called target tracking, which lets people launch AR experiences by pointing their phone at an image.

    Facebook is putting augmented reality experiences on Ready Player One posters
    https://www.theverge.com/2018/4/5/17203502/facebook-augmented-reality-target-tracking-ready-player-one-wrinkle-in-time-posters

    Reply
22. April 6, 2018 at 1:53 pm

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    LG patented a foldable smartphone with two batteries

    The LG patent has two curved displays that are interconnected by a hinge mechanism. On the edges of curved displays, different types of information can be introduced, such as time of day.

    In the LG patent, monitors can work together as one big screen. When the displays bend slightly apart, they can display different information. LG’s model is known to be the first, with both displays underneath an integrated battery. This will increase the running time on the device where the dual display consumes a lot of power.

    Source: http://www.etn.fi/index.php/13-news/7815-lg-patentoi-taitettavan-alypuhelimen-kahdella-akulla

    Reply
23. April 7, 2018 at 6:17 am

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    Self-care apps are booming
    https://techcrunch.com/2018/04/02/self-care-apps-are-booming/?utm_source=tcfbpage&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Techcrunch+%28TechCrunch%29&utm_content=FaceBook&sr_share=facebook

    Millennials may be a bit obsessed with self-care — and it’s beginning to pay off for the makers of self-care and digital wellness apps. According to data from multiple app store intelligence firms, the category is now seeing notable growth. In the first quarter of 2018, the top 10 grossing self-care apps in the U.S. earned $15 million in combined iOS and Android revenue, and $27 million in worldwide revenue, according to Sensor Tower.

    The firm also found that the top 10 wellness apps (e.g. mindfulness and meditation) made about 170 percent more revenue worldwide in Q1 2018 than the top 10 wellness apps did in Q1 2017

    Reply
24. April 9, 2018 at 11:15 am

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    Understanding MIPI Alliance Interface Specifications
    http://www.electronicdesign.com/communications/understanding-mipi-alliance-interface-specifications?PK=UM_Classics04118&utm_rid=CPG05000002750211&utm_campaign=16451&utm_medium=email&elq2=b0fd2da526384276b55694271bceae85

    A broad portfolio of interface specifications from the MIPI Alliance enables design engineers to efficiently interconnect essential components in a mobile device, from the modem and antenna to the peripherals and application processor.

    A broad portfolio of interface specifications from the MIPI Alliance enables design engineers to efficiently interconnect essential components in a mobile device, from the modem and antenna to the peripherals and application processor.

    Most smartphones on the market today employ at least two MIPI specifications. Some products employ MIPI specifications for a full range of internal connections. MIPI specifications have enabled manufacturers to simplify the design process, reduce design costs, create economies of scale that lower price points, and shorten time-to-market for components, features, and services.

    Reply
25. April 9, 2018 at 11:22 am

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    http://www.electronicdesign.com/communications/understanding-mipi-alliance-interface-specifications?PK=UM_Classics04118&utm_rid=CPG05000002750211&utm_campaign=16451&utm_medium=email&elq2=b0fd2da526384276b55694271bceae85

    M-PHY: The MIPI “Performance” Interface

    M-PHY was released in April 2011. The most current release, v3.0, was published in September 2013.

    Depending on the configuration, M-PHY data rates per lane range from 1.25 to 5.8 Gbits/s.

    M-PHY is a full-duplex design, allowing physical lanes to operate concurrently in both transmit and receive directions. Lanes can be implemented asymmetrically to serve and benefit camera, modem, and other applications that are highly asymmetric in traffic consumption. Lane asymmetry is a differentiator for M-PHY compared to other PHY protocols.

    M-PHY can achieve low-power consumption for a wide range of data rates. It uses a standard differential pair for data transmission, but achieves low power consumption from low-voltage swing operation. The differential voltages also minimize noise, enabling the device’s very sensitive receivers to operate at high performance levels.

    Low EMI is enabled via the low-voltage swing operation, the use of dual-frequency operation

    D-PHY: A Practical PHY For Typical Camera And Display Applications

    D-PHY was developed primarily to support camera and display interconnections in mobile devices, and it has become the industry’s primary high-speed PHY solution for these applications in smartphones today (Table 3). It is typically used in conjunction with MIPI’s Camera Serial Interface-2 (CSI-2) and MIPI’s Display Interface (DSI) protocol specifications. It meets the demanding requirements of low power, low noise generation, and high noise immunity that mobile phone designs demand.

    UniPro: A Key MIPI Protocol

    MIPI’s UniPro (Unified Protocol) is a transport layer. When implemented on top of M-PHY, it forms the UniPort-M interface that manufacturers can use to support a wide range of component types in a mobile device. UniPort-M can be used with MIPI or non-MIPI interfaces. It was developed as a standalone interface for IPC and similar applications, as well as a building block for multimedia interfaces.

    One of UniPro’s key technical characteristics is its ability to support various traffic classes. This feature can be used, for example, to deliver traffic across the interface in real time or non-real time.

    Camera Interface Specifications: CSI-2 And CSI-3

    The MIPI Alliance’s Camera Specifications define the interface between the camera or multiple cameras and the application processor or image signal processor (ISP) in a mobile device. CSI offers a choice of two interface protocols: CSI-2 and CSI-3.

    CSI-2 uses the MIPI D-PHY specification for the data transport PHY and CSI-2’s Camera Control Interface (CCI), compatible with I2C, as the control channel. Most smartphones today operate the CSI-2/D-PHY interface on four or eight data lanes, depending on the product’s performance requirements.

    Display Serial Interface (DSI): Ubiquitous And Versatile

    MIPI’s Display Serial Interface (DSI) specification defines the interface between the processor and the display or multiple displays.

    DSI uses the MIPI D-PHY for both data transport and control. It makes D-PHY’s half-duplex feature available for those devices communicating bi-directionally on the same physical wires.

    Most smartphones today use the DSI/D-PHY across four or eight lanes.

    MIPI continues to advance DSI and has collaborated with the Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA) to develop a data compression and transport scheme that will reduce the required data rate for high-resolution mobile display applications, reduce the power consumption of these systems, and lower the costs for implementing them.

    Battery Interface: An Industry-First Solution

    The Battery Interface (BIF) specification provides a standardized approach for connecting the power management chip in a phone to the battery.

    Radio Frequency Front End (RFFE): A Single Unifying Specification

    The Radio Frequency Front End (RFFE) interface provides a standard control interface from the RF transceiver/baseband to numerous mobile front-end devices including power amplifiers, low-noise amplifiers, filters, switches, power management modules, antenna tuners, and sensors. It helps reduce the cost of these components.

    eTrak: A New Envelope Tracking Specification

    MIPI’s Analog Reference Interface for Envelope Tracking (eTrak) specification has been defined to support the deployment of envelope tracking (ET), which is gaining strong momentum in the mobile industry. ET is a technique for reducing power consumption in the RF power amplifier

    Reply
26. April 9, 2018 at 11:22 am

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    Understanding Wireless Range Calculations
    http://www.electronicdesign.com/communications/understanding-wireless-range-calculations?PK=UM_Classics04118&utm_rid=CPG05000002750211&utm_campaign=16451&utm_medium=email&elq2=b0fd2da526384276b55694271bceae85

    One of the key calculations in any wireless design is range, the maximum distance between transmitter and receiver for normal operation. This article identifies the factors involved in calculating range and shows how to estimate range to ensure a reliable communications link.

    Reply
27. April 9, 2018 at 1:21 pm

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    Dearth of New Features Prolongs Smartphone Lifetimes
    https://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1333162

    With fewer new capabilities being added to smartphones to spur upgrades, users are holding onto them longer. Mobile handset lifetimes are projected to increase each year through 2020, according to market research firm Gartner.

    However, the firm expects mobile phone lifetimes to begin shortening after 2020 with the emergence of new artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities in handsets.

    “By 2020, artificial intelligence capabilities on smartphones will offer a more intelligent digital persona on the device,” said Anshul Gupta, a research director at Gartner, in a press statement. “Machine learning, biometrics and user behavior will improve the ease of use, self-service and frictionless authentications. This will allow smartphones to be more trusted than other credentials, such as credit cards, passports, IDs or keys.”

    Reply
28. April 10, 2018 at 7:08 am

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    App downloads and revenue again broke records in the first quarter of 2018
    https://techcrunch.com/2018/04/09/app-downloads-and-revenue-again-broke-records-in-the-first-quarter-of-2018/?utm_source=tcfbpage&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Techcrunch+%28TechCrunch%29&utm_content=FaceBook&sr_share=facebook

    Global app downloads and consumer spending in apps had yet another record quarter, according to a new report from App Annie, out on Monday. In the first quarter of 2018, iOS and Google Play downloads grew more than 10 percent year-over-year to reach 27.5 billion – the highest figure to date. In addition, consumer spending on iOS and Google Play grew 22 percent year-over-year to reach $18.4 billion – also a record number.

    Reply
29. April 10, 2018 at 10:26 am

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    The 4 Best Smartphones Money Can Buy in 2018
    https://www.wired.com/story/the-best-smartphone

    t’s a great year to buy a smartphone. These days, even mid-range phones are at least OK, so it’s hard to go horribly awry if you’re browsing devices at your local retailer. Especially if you’re looking at devices over $500, you’re almost guaranteed to find passable cameras, fast processors, and gorgeous screens. Many phones are trying so hard to imitate the biggest and best smartphones, (Samsung Galaxy devices and iPhones are still the trend setters) that they tend to blur together.

    Reply
30. April 10, 2018 at 10:52 am

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    Huawei P20 Pro: Triple Lens Shooter promises the Earth …
    … But our vulture’s claws have found some flaws
    https://www.theregister.co.uk/2018/04/09/huawei_p20_pro_review/

    Huawei has brought forward the release of its P20 Pro flagship to capitalise on the interest generated by its triple-lens shooter. This is the first Chinese phone that demands – well, screams – to be compared to the market leaders. With a price to match – £799.

    Although Huawei is pouring millions into marketing (including bundling free Bose headphones for early birds) the price is a lot to ask of anyone. The P20 Pro has exactly the same sticker price as the best Android camera phone, Google’s Pixel 2 XL, and Apple’s iPhone 8 Plus (64GB model), and exactly halfway between Samsung’s Galaxy S9+ (£869) and Galaxy S9 (£739).

    Reply
31. April 11, 2018 at 10:22 am

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    Mitigating Digital Risk from the Android PC in Your Pocket
    https://www.securityweek.com/mitigating-digital-risk-android-pc-your-pocket

    Security Teams Must Prioritize Risk Mitigation Against Android Malware

    Few of us could have imagined that a device that allows us to talk to anyone from anywhere at any time would morph, in just a few years, into many users’ computing device of choice. The latest numbers from StatCounter reveal that mobile devices are outpacing desktops and are the preferred method for accessing the Internet. The most popular operating system worldwide? Android.

    Threat actors watch these trends too. They’re opportunistic and will focus their efforts where they believe their success rate will be the highest. So naturally, many are targeting Android devices and taking advantage of malware to launch attacks.

    As an open-source tool, Android provides the benefits of collaborative applications (apps) and innovation; however, its accessibility inherently exposes it to exploitation by malicious actors. In the past year, while some users fell victim to targeted social engineering campaigns that infect their devices, most malware was embedded in malicious apps users inadvertently downloaded from official and unofficial sources. With the greatest number of users, Android’s official app store Google Play has been the largest single source of infection. However, most of the sources of infection were other third-party stores.

    Users are duped by apps that pose as legitimate resources or services, or that are advertised fraudulently by displaying branding associated with credible organizations.

    Reply
32. April 11, 2018 at 12:59 pm

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    Have Wearables Found Their True Killer App?
    https://www.eetimes.com/author.asp?section_id=36&doc_id=1333171

    So far, wearable technology has consisted almost exclusively of fitness trackers and smart watches. There’s cooler stuff coming, right?

    Putting future development in the context of the fourth industrial revolution, he said the next generation beyond smartphones will involve a convergence of hardware focused nanotech and biotech, with software-based infotech and cognotech (see slide below).

    Describing the SHAs, Wood said that these devices will observe what we are doing by listening to us and what we are listening to, seeing us and what we’re seeing, and feeling what we’re feeling more accurately than our own senses. These will utilize speech and sound recognition, computer vision, information from sensors embedded in the environment, communications within IoT systems, contextual knowledge and computer general common sense.

    The big thing though is power consumption, according to Bennett. “There is a bunch of technology that consumes battery, so until you get that right, you won’t get newer form factors. And with AI, you will need processor farms to address that requirement,” he said.

    Healthcare, AI and power management were also major themes at last month’s Wearable Technology Show. Oticon, the hearing aid provider, highlighted how hearing aids are now powerful processors providing information on overall brain health and not just hearing.

    Finnish wearable tech company Oura Health’s Chief Scientific Officer Hannu Kinnunen also emphasized its power management design as being vital for its infrared PPG sensor (PPG stands for photoplethysmography, a simple optical technique used to detect volumetric changes in blood in peripheral circulation, a technique providing valuable information related to the cardiovascular system).

    The company was due to start shipping its most recent version of its Oura Ring, which measures some of the physiological signals within a body (such as ECG-level resting heart rate (RHR), interbeat interval (IBI), heart rate variability (HRV), respiratory rate and breathing variance) and sleep tracking to inform lifestyle choice. The ring incorporates a dual-core Arm Cortex based microcontroller, with proprietary pulse waveform and pulse amplitude variation detection infrared PPG sensor, body temperature sensor, and 3D accelerometer and gyroscope.

    Adi Chhabra, a senior product manager for AI at Vodafone, also said the future of wearables is moving away from screen interactions to surface interactions. “Any screen or surface can be your interface, which can be voice-enabled, touch enabled, or gesture-enabled. Google Glass was the first generation, but it wasn’t the answer for wearables. However, it’s giving us a sense of where we will be in 15 years,” he said.

    Wearables were touted in the early days as smart watches and fitness trackers. But as the multiple use-cases evolve, some of the killer applications are becoming clearer. It’s currently trending towards health applications, not just in the fitness tracker sense, but in more sophisticated healthcare, as we have seen above.

    This is certainly backed up by recent market research. Juniper Research says that while the market is currently dominated by smartwatches and activity trackers, growth will slow, with around 190 million of these devices shipping by 2020. Its research argues that as device types broaden and purchase cycles lengthen, companies will begin to focus on software and data services to maintain their revenues, with the largest market for subscription services being healthcare.

    So how far can wearable tech and AI go in healthcare? Quite far, actually. A paper published last month in Scientific Reports shows how biological age can be extracted from biomedical data via deep learning.

    Reply
33. April 11, 2018 at 1:47 pm

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    Huawei’s new phone has optical stabilizers in every camera?

    Huawe’s latest P20 Pro smartphone model has already been praised for its camera solution based on the use of three cells. Now, the first demolition analyzes have been made and iFixit shows that each of the three cells would be equipped with an optical image stabilizer.

    According to Huawei’s original information, only the 40-megapixel RGB sensor from the three cameras on the back cover would be through an optical stabilized lens. Two-cell phones include a 20-megapixel grayscale cell and an 8-megapixel broadband cell.

    According to iFixit, all cameras are attached to the same circuit board.

    However, iFix tells its analysis that all three cells are equipped with an optical stabilizer. According to Huawei, the focus of the 40 and 20 megapixel cells is based only on the NNP or the artificial intelligence processor of the phone.

    According to iFixi, it is also possible that all cells are equipped with an optical steady-state device,

    Source: http://www.etn.fi/index.php/13-news/7831-huawein-uutuudessa-optinen-vakain-jokaisessa-kamerassa

    Reply
34. April 11, 2018 at 9:03 pm

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    Huawei P20 Pro camera review: Innovative technologies, outstanding results
    https://www.dxomark.com/huawei-p20-pro-camera-review-innovative-technologies-outstanding-results/

    Reply
35. April 13, 2018 at 7:08 am

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    Joseph Cox / Motherboard:
    Investigation: State Dept. and some local police have bought $15K+ GrayKey tools to unlock up-to-date iPhones; Secret Service and DEA also interested in GrayKey — A Motherboard investigation has found that law enforcement agencies across the country have purchased GrayKey …

    Cops Around the Country Can Now Unlock iPhones, Records Show
    https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/vbxxxd/unlock-iphone-ios11-graykey-grayshift-police

    A Motherboard investigation has found that law enforcement agencies across the country have purchased GrayKey, a relatively cheap tool for bypassing the encryption on iPhones, while the FBI pushes again for encryption backdoors.

    Reply
36. April 13, 2018 at 7:10 am

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    Josh Constine / TechCrunch:
    Facebook is adding AR drawing to Facebook Camera in the coming weeks and rolling out Instagram’s Boomerang loops to it now — You’ll soon be able to draw on the world around you and shoot back-and-forth Instagram Boomerang GIFs with the Facebook Camera. Bringing additional creative tools …

    Facebook Stories adds funky AR drawing and Instagram’s Boomerang
    https://techcrunch.com/2018/04/12/facebook-3d-drawing/

    “We wanted to give people an easy way to create with augmented reality and draw in the world around them” says John Barnett, a Facebook Camera Product Manager about the feature it calls “3D drawing”. It’s rolling out to users over the coming weeks. Matt Navarra first spotted the features.

    Reply
37. April 13, 2018 at 8:40 am

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    Mobile Phishing Attacks Up 85 Percent Annually
    https://www.securityweek.com/mobile-phishing-attacks-85-percent-annually

    The rate at which users are receiving and clicking on phishing URLs on their mobile devices has increased at an average rate of 85% per year since 2011, mobile security firm Lookout reports.

    What’s more worrisome is the fact that 56% of users received and clicked on a phishing URL that bypasses existing layers of defense, the security firm says. On average, a user clicked on a mobile phishing URL six times per year.

    In a new report (PDF) analyzing the present state of mobile phishing, the security company explains that attackers are successfully circumventing existing phishing protections to target the mobile devices. Thus, they manage to expose sensitive data and personal information at an alarming rate, the company claims.

    With over 66% of emails first opened on a mobile device and email arguably the first point of attack for a phishing actor, unprotected emails on a mobile device can easily turn into a new avenue for attack.

    https://info.lookout.com/rs/051-ESQ-475/images/Lookout-Phishing-wp-us.pdf

    Reply
38. April 16, 2018 at 1:23 pm

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    Chris Welch / The Verge:
    Sony announces Xperia XZ2 Premium with 5.8-inch 4K HDR display and dual cameras focusing on ultra-low-light performance, with photos of up to ISO 51,200

    Sony’s Xperia XZ2 Premium has a 4K display and cameras built for ‘extreme’ low-light shooting
    ISO 51200 sensitivity
    https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2018/4/16/17240508/sony-xz2-premium-announced-specs-features-release-date

    Less than two months after unveiling the Xperia XZ2 at Mobile World Congress, Sony is back again with the Xperia XZ2 Premium. It retains the same overall design as the XZ2 — a departure from Sony’s past phones — but upgrades the display, camera, battery, and other specs. The XZ2 Premium will be available beginning this summer. Pricing has yet to be announced, but it certainly won’t be cheap. The XZ2 runs $800 unlocked, so you’re probably looking at a $900 or $1,000 phone here.

    Sony is putting a 5.8-inch 4K display in the XZ2 Premium, an improvement over the 5.7-inch Full HD+ (1080 x 2160) screen on the regular XZ2.

    Reply
39. April 17, 2018 at 7:11 pm

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    New York Times:
    Sources: Huawei, which has sought to increase US business, dials back political outreach, laying off some staff including the face of its lobbying efforts in DC

    https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/17/technology/china-huawei-washington.html?mtrref=undefined&gwh=C8DC165145702917937F09A6946B06B9&gwt=pay

    Reply
40. April 18, 2018 at 8:59 am

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    Juli Clover / MacRumors:
    Counterpoint Research: in Q4 2017, iPhone X generated 35% of total worldwide smartphone profits and Apple accounted for 86% of total smartphone market profits

    iPhone X Responsible for 35% of Total Worldwide Phone Profits in Q4 2017
    https://www.macrumors.com/2018/04/17/iphone-x-35-percent-q4-2017-smartphone-profits/

    The iPhone X accounted for 35 percent of total worldwide handset profits in the fourth quarter of 2017, according to new estimates shared this morning by Counterpoint Research.

    The device generated 5x more profit than the combined profit of more than 600 Android OEMs during the quarter, despite the fact that it was only available for purchase during the final two months of the year and in spite of reports pointing towards lackluster sales of the device.

    Reply
41. April 18, 2018 at 9:17 am

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
    Source: ZTE exploring options for its phone operating systems after ban blocking US firms from selling to ZTE may prevent it from using Google’s Android — Google’s Android operating system powers ZTE phones globally — ZTE Corp. executives are evaluating software options …

    ZTE Seeks Fix With U.S. Ban Threatening Access to Android
    https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-04-17/zte-is-said-to-seek-fix-as-u-s-ban-threatens-access-to-android

    Google’s Android operating system powers ZTE phones globally
    Losing Android access would be big blow to ZTE phone business

    ZTE Corp. executives are evaluating software options for the company’s smartphones after a U.S. technology ban threatened to cut off the operating system at the heart of its devices, a person with knowledge of the matter said.

    The Android operating system, designed by Google, is the core of ZTE smartphones, powering user-facing functions, apps, and other services. That means the software likely falls under Monday’s U.S. government order denying China’s ZTE access to American technology for seven years. Trading in ZTE shares was suspended in Hong Kong soon after the announcement.

    ZTE lawyers have been meeting with Google officials about the issue

    The U.S. order stated that ZTE can’t “participate in any way in any transaction involving any commodity, software or technology… exported or to be exported from the United States.” That includes licenses, the typical way software is used.

    Losing access to Android would be a major blow for ZTE because there are few alternatives. Microsoft Corp. and HP Inc. no longer offer smartphone operating systems, Apple’s iOS is exclusive to its own devices, and ZTE doesn’t have its own operating system. The only possible alternative is Samsung’s Tizen, which hasn’t taken off and only supports a few apps.

    Reply
42. April 18, 2018 at 9:17 am

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    David Shepardson / Reuters:
    FCC votes to advance new rules to bar the use of funds from a government program to purchase equipment or services from companies deemed a security threat to US

    China’s ZTE may lose Android license as U.S. market woes build
    https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-fcc-china/u-s-regulator-votes-to-advance-new-rules-on-telecom-security-threats-idUSKBN1HO2BD

    Chinese smartphone maker ZTE Corp’s U.S. woes deepened on Tuesday, as regulators proposed new rules that could cut into its sales, while a supply ban means it may not be able to use Android software in its devices, according to a source.

    Reply
43. April 18, 2018 at 9:24 am

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    New York Times:
    Sources: Huawei, which has sought to increase US business, dials back political outreach, laying off some staff including the face of its lobbying efforts in DC

    Huawei, Failing to Crack U.S. Market, Signals a Change in Tactics
    https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/17/technology/china-huawei-washington.html

    In a grand hotel ballroom on Tuesday, Huawei executives laid out a soaring vision for the future. The Chinese electronics giant, already the world’s biggest supplier of the equipment that powers the wireless age, now wants to provide the digital backbone for artificial intelligence, the internet of things and other transformative technologies.

    But that future is increasingly looking as if it will not include the United States.

    Reply
44. April 19, 2018 at 7:07 am

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    Aaron Tilley / The Information:
    Sources: Intel to shut down its New Devices Group, which was formed in 2013 and made fitness trackers and smart glasses — Intel’s long-failing foray into wearables and augmented reality is officially dead. — The chip giant’s new devices group will shut down, according to people familiar with the situation.

    Intel Plans to Shut Down Smart Glasses Group
    https://www.theinformation.com/articles/intel-plans-to-shut-down-smart-glasses-group

    Reply
45. April 19, 2018 at 1:30 pm

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    Huawe’s smartphone business grew by a third

    China’s Huawei figures for the past year show that the company made smartphones $ 36.4 billion in operating profit. Huawei sold a total of 153 million smartphones. According to figures, smartphone business grew by almost a third from the previous year.

    Net sales relate to Huawei’s consumer business, most of which consists of smart phones. The figure is 31.9 percent higher than in the previous year. The entire giant group made turnover last year at $ 92.5 billion. The company earned a total of $ 7.3 billion, which is 28.1 percent more than in the previous year.

    According to Huawei, its smartphone success has been based on the Huawei and Honor brand strategy.

    Source: http://www.etn.fi/index.php/13-news/7871-huawein-alypuhelinbisnes-on-erittain-kannattavaa

    Reply
46. April 20, 2018 at 4:28 am

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    Dieter Bohn / The Verge:
    Google announces Chat, a carrier messaging service based on Universal RCS, as a replacement to SMS, with typing indicators, full-res images, video, group texts — A top-tier Android phone can cost upwards of a thousand dollars, and for that money, you’ll get some amazing features.

    Exclusive: Chat is Google’s next big fix for Android’s messaging mess
    How the successor to SMS will take on iMessage
    https://www.theverge.com/2018/4/19/17252486/google-android-messages-chat-rcs-anil-sabharwal-imessage-texting

    A top-tier Android phone can cost upwards of a thousand dollars, and for that money, you’ll get some amazing features. It will have a stellar screen, top-flight camera, gobs of storage, and an absolutely atrocious texting experience.

    It’s a problem. In fact, it’s always been a problem. Google has spent nearly a decade trying — and failing — to fix it with an ever-rotating cast of poorly supported apps. While iPhone users have had the simplicity of iMessage built in, Android users have been left to fend for themselves.

    Now, the company is doing something different. Instead of bringing a better app to the table, it’s trying to change the rules of the texting game, on a global scale. Google has been quietly corralling every major cellphone carrier on the planet into adopting technology to replace SMS. It’s going to be called “Chat,” and it’s based on a standard called the “Universal Profile for Rich Communication Services.”

    Reply
47. April 20, 2018 at 8:05 am

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    Dieter Bohn / The Verge:
    Google unveils Chat, an RCS-based carrier messaging service to supplant SMS, with typing indicators, full-res pics, video, group texts, no end-to-end encryption — A top-tier Android phone can cost upwards of a thousand dollars, and for that money, you’ll get some amazing features.
    http://www.theverge.com/2018/4/19/17252486/google-android-messages-chat-rcs-anil-sabharwal-imessage-texting

    Reply
48. April 20, 2018 at 8:12 am

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    Dieter Bohn / The Verge:
    Android does a better job of corralling notifications than iOS by prioritizing, grouping, and letting users jump directly to that app’s notification settings

    Why iPhone notifications need an overhaul
    Because they aren’t going away
    https://www.theverge.com/2018/4/18/17243712/iphone-android-notifications-processor

    Everybody hates smartphone notifications. They’re interruptive, distracting, annoying, and increasingly less valuable. The signal-to-noise ratio on your average smartphone’s lock screen is completely out of whack. The solution, of course, is to dive into your phone’s settings and turn as many app notifications off as you can. But it’s a constant struggle: every new app you install wants to get on your lock screen and the little pop-up box is all too easy to just say yes to. Ten-ish years into the smartphone revolution, we’re still coming to grips with which things we should allow to interrupt us.

    It’s easy to forget as we slog through the repercussions of Facebook’s Cambridge Analytica scandal, but for the first couple months of the year, the biggest concern in tech spheres wasn’t data privacy, but attention. Notifications are the most visible way that these devices steal our attention — often for reasons that are more related to an app developer’s bottom line than to a genuine need to be notified.

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49. April 20, 2018 at 8:46 am

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    Opinion: U.S. tech dominance is under threat from this one Chinese company
    https://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-tech-dominance-is-under-threat-from-this-one-chinese-company-2018-04-16

    Huawei is challenging Apple and Qualcomm in markets including smartphones and chips

    In the hyper-competitive world of smartphones, a company that’s mostly unknown to the average American is challenging the two behemoths of Apple and Samsung. It’s also put Qualcomm on notice in chips.

    That company is Huawei.

    Though founded more than three decades ago and having risen to as high as No. 83 on the Fortune 500 list, Huawei remains an enigma to many investors and consumers in the U.S. It has grown to become the world’s third-largest smartphone vendor behind only South Korea’s Samsung SSNLF, -3.07% at No. 1, and Cupertino, Calif.-based Apple AAPL, -2.83% Huawei didn’t come by this success easily, as it spent more than $14 billion on research and development in 2017.

    Huawei is based in Shenzhen, China, and was founded by Ren Zhengfei, a former engineer from the People’s Liberation Army.

    Reply
50. April 20, 2018 at 2:39 pm

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    Microsoft has sold its last Windows Phone and will no longer be available to resellers. At the same time, this means the ending of the Windows mobile story. The story of the platform was exactly 18 years old.

    Source: http://etn.fi/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=7884&via=n&datum=2018-04-20_14:28:21&mottagare=31202

    Reply